AI tools explained simply
Voicemail greetings: Sound professional, keep the job.
When you are on site, you cannot pick up the phone – but in those seconds the caller decides whether to wait for your call back or ring the next business. A good greeting keeps the job with you. Here you find ready-made templates, the key rules – and a way to have the greeting recorded in studio quality without a microphone or throat-clearing.
* Transparency: this article contains affiliate links. If you subscribe through them, I receive a commission – the price does not change for you. It does not influence my assessment.
- Ready-made templates
- Rules for good greetings
- AI voice step by step
- Last updated: October 2026
What a good greeting has to do.
Callers hang up when they do not know where they stand. A good greeting therefore answers three questions in under 20 seconds: am I in the right place? When will someone get back to me? What can I do right now?
- Name and business first – the caller wants to know they dialled correctly
- A concrete promise: “we call back today” beats “we will get back to you as soon as possible”
- Offer an alternative: email, WhatsApp or the contact form on your website
- Keep it short – under 20 seconds, no hold music
- Friendly but natural: speak the way you actually speak on the phone
Three templates to adapt.
Standard – unavailable during work hours:
Welcome to [business] in [town]. We are out on a job right now and cannot take your call. Leave your name and number – we will call back today. For a faster reply, use WhatsApp or the contact form at [website].
After hours and weekends:
You have reached [business] outside our business hours. Leave your name and number and we will call you first thing on the next working day. For urgent matters, email us at [address].
Holidays:
Welcome to [business]. We are on company holidays from [date] to [date]. Feel free to leave a message – we will call back right after our return. You can also send inquiries anytime via [website].
Replace the placeholders, read it out loud once, cut everything you would never say on the phone – done.
Have the greeting recorded by AI.
Self-recorded greetings rarely fail because of the text – they fail because of the recording: phone microphone, background noise, ten takes. AI voices solve exactly that. With ElevenLabs (affiliate link*) you pick a natural voice, paste your greeting text and get a studio-quality recording in seconds – as an MP3 download.
- Adapt the text from the template and read it out loud once
- Pick a suitable voice at ElevenLabs (affiliate link*) – listen to a few
- Paste the text, generate, download as MP3
- Upload the file to your phone system, router or voicemail app as the greeting
The free tier is usually enough for one greeting. More about the tool – voices, pricing, limits – is in the detailed ElevenLabs guide.
If voicemail alone is not enough.
A good greeting catches missed calls – but it does not answer questions. If you want to go one step further, an AI phone assistant can pick up: it takes down requests, answers standard questions and forwards urgent matters. What realistically works today and what does not is covered in the AI phone assistant guide.
Frequently asked questions.
Am I allowed to use an AI voice for my business greeting?
Yes. The standard voices available from serious providers are licensed for commercial use – the licence terms of your plan are what counts. Only real people must not be cloned without their consent.
How long should a voicemail greeting be?
Under 20 seconds. Anything longer costs patience – and callers who hang up before the beep. Name, promise, alternative: nothing more is needed.
What does an AI-recorded greeting cost?
For a single greeting, the free tier at ElevenLabs is usually enough. Paid plans only pay off once you produce audio regularly.
Which format do I need the greeting in?
Most phone systems, routers and voicemail apps accept MP3 or WAV. ElevenLabs delivers MP3 directly – if your system requires WAV, any free audio tool converts the file.
Prefer not to handle this yourself?
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